 |
Start
off with a sphere, with 100 radius and 32 segments. Rotate it
so it’s poles are facing front and back. Right-click the
geometry and convert to Editable Poly. In polygon sub-object
mode, select the rear of the sphere and delete the selected
polygons. Select a ring of front faces and extrude slightly
as illustrated. Select any sharp edges and chamfer them in Edge
sub-object mode. |
 |
Ensure
the center of the hemisphere has enough segments leading to
it’s pole by chamfering any existing ring edges to create
a few more to refine the curever to the pole’s point.
Draw a pattern in edge sub-object mode to create the panel illustrated.
Chamfer slightly to create the wider segments and chamfer again
to create the side segments. |
 |
Enter vertex
sub-object mode and target weld any wayward vertices. You may
need to create new edges around the right-angles of the created
edges else when we refine our geometry later on, the mesh will
pinch and deform unless these edges are sorted out. |
 |
Select
all of the inner polygons of the newly created edges and negatively
extrude to create an indentation. Chamfer any sharp right-angled
edges created by the extrusion as shown. Select the inner polygons
around the pole of the geometry and extrude outwards slightly.
Extrude again ever so slightly and use the Outline tool to create
a lip. Extrude twice and negatively Outline to taper the polygons
in a little. |
 |
Select
the inner ring of polygons around the pole and extrude back
to create an indentation. Deselect the outer polygons and extrude
outwards. Deselect the outer polygons and extrude inwards. Create
double polygon extrusions as shown on the two inner extrusions
(ie create an additional small extrusion on top of the existing
one); this will keep the mesh tighter when refining our geometry
later on. |
 |
Create
another sphere with the same settings as before and rotate it
so a pole is facing up. Select the top four polygon segment
rings and extrude outward. Select the outer edge that has been
created and chamfer it to remove any harsh edges and to refine
our geometry. Delete the bottom polygons so we remain with an
extruded ring. |
 |
Select
the top two rings of polygons and delete them. Select the middle
ring of edges and chamfer them to give us a total of 3 rings
of polygons where there were once two. Select a cross of edges
and chamfer them. In Border sub-object, select the inner border
and chamfer slightly. Select the inner border again and collapse.
Select the outer polygons of the 3 rings and extrude as illustrated. |
 |
Select
the inner collapse vertex and chamfer to create a ring of polygons.
Chamfer the edge ring slightly to create an additional polygon
ring. Select the ring of polygons and extrude as illustrated.
Due to the chamfering of the collapsed vertex, you may need
to target weld any vertex irregularities – these will
show up as smoothing errors. |
 |
Select
one quarter of the geometry, including the center circle and
inner extrusions leading up to the center ring, invert the selection
and delete the rest. Select the harsh corners of the geometry
and chamfer them as illustrated. |
 |
Close all
sub-object selections and add a symmetry modifier. Rotate the
gizmo to mirror the geometry. Add another symmetry modifier
and rotate the gizmo to complete the geometry – making
it whole again, but repeating the chamfered edges around the
geometry as intended. |
 |
The large
top faces will pinch when refined later on, so delete them,
Border select the top inner outline and chamfer it slightly.
Select the inner border again and collapse to bring the border
selection to one point. |
 |
Create
another sphere with the same settings as before. Add a Slice
modifier and rotate it’s Gizmo 45 degrees so it cuts the
sphere diagonally when viewing it in the Front Viewport. Check
on Remove Bottom. Add another Slice Modifier and perform this
operation another 3 times, rotating the Gizmo 90 degrees each
time to end up with the geometry shown. |
 |
With the
sliced sphere still selected rename it Side Panel. Clone the
panel by selecting move (or rotate or scale) and shift-clicking
the geometry. Copy it and rotate it so it is facing the left-hand
side. Perform this operation again with the top sphere (the
“Socket”) and rotate this so it is over the top
of the copied Sliced sphere. Taper the geometry in a little
as shown and extrude the middle polygons further back. |
 |
Create
a cylinder and label it Head. Set the Radius to 30, Height to
40, 3 Height Segments, 1 Cap Segment and 18 Sides. Collapse
to Editable Poly and reposition the vertices so they line up
as shown. To create the curve at the top of the geometry select
a ring of vertices and scale then using Uniform Scale. Re-perform
this on the other vertices to create the dome shape shown. |
 |
Create
a box Length 80, Width 10 and Height 80, and position it so
it intersects the Head geometry as shown. The box should just
positioned just inside one column of faces; scale it if necessary.
Select the Head and create a new Boolean Compound object. Select
the box as operand B and ensure Subtraction (A-B) is selected. |
 |
Collapse
to an Editable Poly. Target weld any floating or mid-polygon
vertices from the Boolean to clean up the geometry which will
help our refinement later on. Select the new edges that have
been created from the Boolean operation and chamfer them to
remove the harsh edges. Again, weld and / or clean-up any wayward
vertices if necessary. |
 |
Select
the Top Panel and rotate copy it so it is repositioned and facing
down as shown. Select the side socket and copy-uniform scale
it. Rotate it and reposition it as illustrated. You may wish
to change to Local Reference Co-Ordinates to reposition the
smaller socket, and moving it along the Z-axis in User or Perspective
view. |
 |
In the
Left Viewport, create a cylinder with a Radius of 20 and a Height
of 10. Set the Height Segments to 1 and 18 Sides. Reposition
it as shown so it sits nicely in the Booleaned section of the
Head geometry. Scale it as necessary so it’s a very snug
fit. Select the side edges of the cylinder and chamfer them
slightly. |
 |
Collapse
to an Editable Poly and select three alternate polygons. Inset
these polygons a little and extrude outwards. Inset slightly
again and extrude back to form 3 small tube-like structures
over the cylinder as illustrated. Create another cylinder and
reposition it on the side of the head near to the top. |
 |
Add an
Edit Mesh Modifier and select the top Polygon. Extrude slightly
and uniform scale inwards to create a rim set of polygons. Extrude
back, extrude slightly again and uniform scale again to create
an indented rim. Re-perform this several times until you arrive
at the shape illustrated. Instance clone this object to the
other side of the head. |
 |
Create
another cylinder or clone the previous one and delete the existing
Edit Mesh Modifier and add a new one. Create ledges and negative
extrusions as before to create the basic geometry shown. Create
a set of polygons in the centre as illustrated. Select the centre
vertex and use soft-selection to create a slight bulge when
moving the centre vertex outwards. |
 |
Select
the top geometry positioned just under the head. Select polygons
on the side of the curved surfaces in whatever pattern you see
fit (illustrated is a 2 to 1 repeat around the geometry). Inset
these slightly as shown and extrude back. Additionally, extrude
the centre polygons at the top back else the head will intersect
when rotated later on. |
 |
Perform
the same operation as described previously to the side and front
panels to add a little extra detail to the geometry. Additionally,
tweak the geometry on each object by either selecting and deleting
(or selecting and adding a delete Mesh Modifier (as shown) or
scaling the centre vertices (shown on non-selected object). |
 |
This scaling
or deleting of polygons prevents the two objects intersecting,
such as the side socket or front geometry. The front geometry
is too big, so delete the outer polygons as shown, chamfer the
outer Border selection and scale the border inwards. Again,
chamfer any sharp edges as necessary. |
 |
The rear
panel is relatively simple. Clone another panel and rotate it
so it is at the rear of the Bot. Select the complete inner polygon
rings, extrude back and inset a relatively large amount. Extrude
again, inset slightly and extrude back. Leave the remaining
polygons as illustrated. Chamfer any pointed edges. |
 |
Rubber
seals are created by selecting Borders from the top panel and
extracting as a shape. Make the shape renderable, amend the
thickness to about 4 and rotate clone around the geometry as
shown. Create seals for other geometry, such as the sockets
using the same method. |
 |
Create
the arm joint with a new sphere, selecting one of poles and
extrude out. Extrude again and position against the socket.
Extrude outwards, then inset and extrude the outwards facing
polygons to form a type of ridged surface. Create the leg socket
using a similar method by chamfering and extruding to get the
desired shape. |
 |
The forearm
is created using a clone of the arm joint, rotated and repositioned.
The End polygons are deleted and The new elbow socket created
by chamfering, extruding and scaling the new polygons. The forearm
and cannons are created using a similar method. Scale the forearm
polygons (excluding the end ones) to create the desired shape.
Create the cannon by extruding and insetting the end polygons. |
 |
Create
the mouth display by selecting the relevant polygons, insetting
and extruding back. Refine the edges by chamfering and cleaning
up any unwanted polygons. Finally extrude the base of the head
down slightly to create a slight ledge. The foot thruster is
a modified clone of the foot socket, repositioned and refined
using extrusions and insetting by polygon to create the bottom
detail. |
 |
Create
a new material. Set the shader to Multi-Layer. Lock the Ambient
and Diffuse colours and give it a blue colour. Set the First
Specular Layer Level to 300, Glossiness to 90. Set the second
layer Level to 20 and Glossiness to 0. Add a Falloff map to
the reflection slot and add a Raytrace map to the falloff map’s
Side slot. Assign this to the whole of the Bot’s body
geometry. |
 |
Create
the bottom plate geometry from another side panel. Create the
initial run between the legs by creating edges along the desired
route, then extrude the polygons along the middle. Target weld
the outer vertices to create a smooth bulge. Use the symmetry
modifier to perform the same operations on the other side and
another for the rear of the geometry. |
 |
Copy the
Multi-Layer material and label and colour it Grey. Select the
forearm and in Polygon Sub-Object mode, select the polygons
you want to assign this material to. Assign the material, or
other if desired, to this and any other elements or inset extrusions
as you see fit. Create materials for the eyepiece and ears and
assign them accordingly. |
 |
With all
materials and sub-object materials assigned, we can refine our
geometry. If we have done it correctly, adding a simple Meshsmooth
Modifer should smooth out any rough edges to an object and NOT
result in pinched or wayward geometry. For objects that have
sub-object materials, check on Separate by: Materials in the
Meshsmooth’s Surface Parameters section. |
 |
With all
refinement sorted (for Viewport update speed, use Meshsmooth’s
Render Values instead of normal Iterations) we can pose our
bot into a more dramatic stance. To pose the limbs, you may
need to amend the pivot positions on some geometry to pose it
correctly. To do this, enter the Heirarchy tab, click on Affect
Pivot Only and move the pivot point to where the object should
bend. |
 |
If you
try bending the forearm now, you should see it pivots correctly.
However, if you try bending the top of the arm, you will see
that the forearm does not follow suit. Select The forearm and
link it to the top of the arm. Likewise, link the top of the
arm to the arm socket joint. Perform this same task with the
foot and leg accordingly. |
 |
Create
the Thrusters by creating a simple cylinder, positioning it
and removing the top and bottom caps with an Edit Mesh Modifier.
Add a UVW map and set to cylindrical. Scale the UVW map’s
height slightly. Create a new material, check on 2-sided and
assign it to the thrusters. Add a Falloff map to the Self-Illumination
slot. Instance-copy it to the Diffuse Slot |
 |
Change
the Falloff’s front slot to a Gradient Ramp map with a
gradient as illustrated and a W angle of 90. Set the Falloff
map’s second slot to a blue colour. Add a Gradient Ramp
map to the Opacity Slot and change the W angle to 90. Design
a gradient going from white to black (two black keys, one at
90 one at 100), left to right. Taper and link the Thrusters
to the feet and pose the Bot. |
 |
3ds max
5 has a very simple Global Illumination system. Create a Standard
Skylight light and position it anywhere in the scene. In the
Rendering menu, go to Advanced Lighting and select Light Tracer.
There are no hotspots indicating there is no main light. Create
an additional Direct light with diffuse checked off and shadows
on to just emit a hotspot. Tint this light slightly yellow. |
 |
Right-click
on the thrusters and select properties. In the Adv. Lighting
tab, check on Exclude from Adv. Lighting Calculations. Render
off on a white background as a 32 bit TGA at 2740x3307 for print
resolution. |
 |
Bring the
rendered image (or the pre-rendered bot_rendered.tga supplied)
into Photoshop 7 along with the Bot_background_layers.psd and
bots_toon.psd files. Copy the masked rendered Bot into the Bot_background_layers.psd
canvas and position it to the right and make it the top layer.
Drop in the toon-shaded Bots and place them behind the rendered
Bot. |
 |
Load in
the bots_5.psd and position it behind the rendered Bot. Change
the blending type to Overlay. Load the 5’s selection by
CTRL-clicking on the layer, create a new layer and stroke the
layer with a white line of 16pixels. Clear the selection, clone
the layer and set the copy’s blending type to Colour Dodge.
Gaussian Blur the copy with 15 radius. |
 |
Load the
bot’s selection and outside stroke the result on a new
layer. Clear the selection, add a layer mask and mask out the
stroke around the thrusters using a gradient. Copy the stroke
layer and Gaussian and Colour Dodge as before. Load the bot’s
selection and expand it by 50. Fill the selection white on a
new layer. Duplicate this across the background to form the
cloud shape. |
 |
Link, merge
these cloud shapes and set the opacity to 50%. Position behind
the boxes layer. Centre stroke these cloud shapes on a new layer
with 8 pixels width. Clone the stroke layer a couple of times
and position down as shown, changing the opacity for the 1st
copy to 75% and the 2nd to 50%. |
 |
Load in
the bots_grid.psd and paste the layer behind the boxes layer.
Set to Overlay, Clone and Gaussian slightly. On the Bot layer,
Magnetic Lasso-select the thrusters and copy and paste to a
new layer. Set to Colour dodge and merge back down. Blur the
thrusters using either the blur tool or a Gaussian’d feathered
selection. |
 |
And our
final image. 3ds max and Photoshop can go hand-in hand and can
be used to produce some attractive pieces. 3ds max has the capability
to produce numerous styles out of the box, but with a little
imagination, mixing materials together, there are no limitations
to what you can produce! |
